Shoulder To Cry On
by laurzz
Summary: Sam/Andy with hints of Andy/Luke. post-ep 2x3. "Sam, get me out of here." He took her hand and she instantly crushed herself to his back as he led her through the crowd of concerned officers and detectives alike.


**A/N: I'm sort of new to the Rookie Blue fanfic world. I've written one story before but never usually find myself with any ideas for the show. When the episode ended tonight though I knew I had to write something, and this just kind of fell onto paper. I hope that I'm not stepping on any toes here! I also hope that you enjoy. For the record, I'm a Sam/Andy shipper, but have a soft spot for Andy and Luke.. (so long as I don't think about what he said to Jo about the engagement ring! grr!) **

**Anyway, enough of my rambling, here's just a little addition to the end of the episode. Hope you enjoy! :) **

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><p>Wiping away yet another handful of tears sliding down her cheeks, Andy McNally scooted away from Luke's side and tried to regain the little amount of composure that she knew was somewhere deep inside of her. She stood over him for just a few more minutes, twisting the engagement ring around her finger.<p>

_Beep... beep... beep... _

The machines were driving her crazy. They were a constant reminder that Luke's life hung in the balance – because of danger that she'd effectively put him in. She didn't know how or why Luke had gotten shot, and she wasn't sure whether she wanted to know. She couldn't bear the thought of him desperately trying to talk Daniel out of shooting him. Or how Luke had tried defending her. Or how Luke had lied to protect her. Or how Luke was shot because of her.

The tears she'd been trying to hold back since attempting to gain a little composure slid down her cheek as she turned on her heel and rushed out of Luke's room. She couldn't deal with it. Not right now. It was too much. She pushed through the doors and ignored the concerns being voiced for Luke's wellbeing. She knew that deep down in her, somewhere, she appreciated everyone's concern and their support. She knew that they meant only good. But right now, she didn't need Tom, Dick, Harry, John, Peter, Oliver and the handful of other officers all speaking at once. She could feel the pats on her back as she pushed her way through the small crowd forming around her. It was like the world was caving in on her – more than what it already was.

"_Is he okay?" "What's his prognosis?" "What's going on?" "When's he getting released?" _The questions filling the air were quickly overwhelming her and she could feel the tears building in her eyes once again. She saw Sam stand from where he'd been sat with Jo and make his way over to her; parting the sea of officers with great ease – something she was struggling significantly with.

"McNally," he whispered, shaking his head as a gesture of sorrow.

"Sam, get me out of here." Her plea was almost silent, and he thought for a moment he'd been hearing things. But when he locked eye contact with her, he realised she was begging him to take her somewhere – anywhere - but where they were. He took her hand and she instantly crushed herself to his back as he led her through the crowd of concerned officers and detectives alike. She buried her face in his Kevlar. He wasn't Luke - she'd been with Luke and she could have quite easily stayed with Luke; but right now, the person she needed was him. She needed Sam.

She tightened her grip on his hand that was angled between her chest and his back, and instantly he returned the tight grip with an affectionate and reassuring squeeze as he led her through the maze that was the hospital wards. It was all too much for her, and she knew he knew that. He'd given her the chance to find her feet when she'd first left the ICU – but when she'd failed to deal with the concerned co-workers, he'd known it was time to step in.

Finally, she felt his quick steps come to a halt and despite her resistances, he turned in her death grasp and he somehow managed to lower her into a set of seats along some random hallway, no doubt deep in the hospital's maze. Within seconds of her touching the plastic seat, he was down on his knees in front of her, cupping her tearstained face in his hands.

"Sam, he... he..." she could feel herself losing her breath; like someone was pressing on her chest – constricting her flow of oxygen, just like she had when she'd found Luke lying on the floor. "Sam, I, I can't bre-"

"Eyes on me, McNally. Look at me."

She fought his hands that were desperately attempting to hold her in place as she buckled and leant forward, resting her elbows on her knees; but as soon as she had done, Sam was pushing her shoulders back, keeping her upright in the seat.

"You need to sit up, Andy, come on, stop fighting me here... you gotta sit up."

"He – he – he tried to –"

"No, breathe," he demanded. "Breathe with me, Andy."

She finally managed to make eye-contact and mimicked his exaggerated breaths. It took a good minute or so of repetitive (and ridiculously exaggerated) breaths, but eventually she found herself a little less panicked – for the first time since she'd seen Luke's gun in Gail's hand.

"He tried to call me," she whispered, linking her fingers through Sam's hand, as he stayed knelt in front of her. "He tried to call me and I could have told him. I could have told him to-"

"You didn't know," Sam tried to reason with her. "You couldn't have known Daniel was going there."

"We did though!" she sniffled, "We knew he was dangerous and we knew that he had a beef with me. We knew that. I should have – I could have- I didn't even think about Lu-"

"McNally!" Sam cried. "What use is should have, would have, could have now? Does that get Luke any less shot? Does it make Daniel any less crazy? No, Luke's still hurting and Daniel's still crazy. What we need to do now then is to make sure that you're gonna be okay for your fiancé when he decides it's time to wake up."

Swiping at a tear on her cheek, Andy shook her head at him. "Was that a subtle way of telling me you're sorry?"

"No," he shook his head. "It's me taking pity on you right now and being a little bit sympathetic. When all this is done and he's back at work I'll be back to claiming you're too young to be getting married and whatever the hell else I was saying today."

She rolled her eyes.

"He's gonna be okay, you know that don't you?"

"I'm not so sure. How long was he like that for Sam?" Andy asked. "How long was he-" She paused and bit her lip "I can't even-"

"I know," he sighed as he rubbed her leg, feeling at a loss of what he could do to help soothe her pain. "I can't even imagine what this feels like."

"I can't get him out of my head," she cried. "The way he was helpless and... God, the blood - all of his blood; he lost so much. I've never seen blood like that before Sam, never."

Sam closed his eyes, just for a moment as he pictured the image that he too couldn't rid himself off. This morning, he would have been glad of a differing image other than the three mutilated heads he could picture – and now, he'd do anything to get the image of Luke out of his mind. He might not have been the biggest fan of the guy... but that didn't mean he want the guy shot.

And for Andy to find him like she had.

"I can't go back there," she spluttered. "Not to the apartment. I can't."

"Alright," Sam nodded. "CSU's in there gathering up the evidence; so you can stay wherever you want tonight okay. You can stay here, at mine, at Tracy's... I'd offer Diaz and Epstein but Diaz would probably bore you to tears with his ridiculous amount of knowledge of stuff that no one cares about and to be honest with you McNally, I'm not sure how many tears you've got left in you to cry." He smiled lightly as he swiped away a stray tear from her cheek. "I thought you were one of the tough Rookies, McNally... What's going on? Why all these tears, huh?"

"Luke got shot because of me Sam, that's what's going on."

"I know," he sighed as he stood and ran his fingers through his hair briefly before taking a seat next to her. "I'm not gonna lie. I'm not the best with this kind of thing. I'm more of the guy you want when you're in the thick of it. I can be the guy you rely on when things need to be done there and then. Directions and orders. This emotional shoulder to cry on... It's something I'm kind of new at here, so you'll have to bear with me."

He turned to see Andy's reaction, and was a little disheartened when he saw her staring blankly at the wall opposite them. He scooted a little closer to her and boldly took her hand and squeezed it gently; letting her know that he was there for her – even if he felt like he was completely inadequate.

Ten minutes passed them as they sat in complete silence, Sam searching for the right words to offer in comfort – and Andy trying to make sense of the past twenty-four hours. Everything had happened so fast. How could she have started the day so happy? And ended it in hysterical tears in a hospital no less? How had that happened?

"I don't know what I would have done without you," her voice was merely a whisper. A hoarse whisper – from what he could only assume, was the after effects of her sobs. "I lost it. He really needed me and I lost it."

"Andy," Sam sighed. "Do you think I-Luke – do you think Luke would have handled seeing you like that any better?"

Andy shrugged.

"No," he answered, relieved that she'd missed the slip of his tongue. "He would have been just as panicked as you were; but once you focused on me... you were there for him. You applied pressure like a pro. You knew he was slipping through those fingertips of yours and you just weren't willing to let go... and when he wakes up, he'll know that you did that. You saved him Andy."

"I didn't," she shook her head, tears cascading down her cheeks. "It was you."

"It was the both of us," he reasoned. "A joint effort."

"I just, I never realised what I had until he was gone," she whispered. "What if he never wakes up Sam? What do I do then? What do I do with this?" she gestured to the engagement ring that was sat on her finger.

"Hey, come on now... let's cross that bridge if we ever get to it. You heard what the Doctor said, the next forty-eight hours are crucial. That leaves a hell of a lot open to imagination. He might be awake already."

Andy shook her head adamantly. "No.. no he's... he's.. the machines are the only thing-"

"They're just keeping him stable. He's gonna be fine Andy, come on. You know this. You're just overtired and hyped up on adrenaline from today. You know that Luke is going to be okay. So stop torturing yourself over this."

"But Sam... it's really bad. Luke... he's really – he's really-"

"McNally, listen to me!" Sam snapped. "When Luke wakes up, he's going to need you. It's gonna be a hard way back. He'll struggle and it'll be hard, but I know you and you can do this Andy."

"What if he blames me for what happened?" Andy mumbled.

"Then he'd be insane. This isn't your fault Andy."

"But what if he feels like it is?"

Sighing, Sam shook his head and pulled Andy up from her seat. "Sometimes you just need someone to wrap their arms around you and let you know that everything's gonna be fine. And Andy, guess what?"

"What?" she whispered.

"Everything's gonna be fine," Sam whispered as he pulled her into the tightest hug Andy thought she'd ever been enveloped in. "I promise you, okay?"

The sound of heels clipping against the flooring of the hallway pulled them out of their hug, both of them turning to glance at their interruption. Jo's subtly tearstained face greeted them with a clearly well practiced smile. "I thought I'd come and let you know that the Doctor was looking for you. Something about positive movement?"

Andy turned to look at Sam; displayed in her eyes, Sam could see the first signs of hope.

"Go!" he gestured to her. "Go on, this is your cue. You've got the way back to compose yourself, because he's gonna need you. Can you do that for me, Andy?"

Andy nodded silently, but made a note of pulling Sam into a hug and whispering 'Thank you' in his ear before taking off down the hallway at a pace that was only just acceptable in a hospital hallway. There was a few seconds pause between the two remaining occupants of the hallway before one of them spoke. "Why did you do that?" Jo questioned as her eyes burned into Andy's retreating back as she raced to the ICU.

"She needed me," Sam shrugged.

"But anyone can see that this – them – it's killing you."

He shrugged, trying to pass it off as nothing.

"You think it's not killing me? Seeing them? Not being able to see him, to make sure he's okay?"

"You had your chance though Jo, you should let Andy have her's."

"You mean so he can screw up, and then she'll come running to you?"

Sam turned to Jo and let out a heavy sigh. "As much as I care about Andy, I wouldn't ever want her heart to break like that. You've seen how she's been with your own eyes. She's devastated. She loves Luke with all of her heart and there's nothing I can do about that. He might be her soulmate, he might not be... but I'm not going to wait around until one of them makes a decision that might never be made. So yeah, I've stood on the sidelines tonight because she needed me... but one of these days I won't be. And for my sake, I hope it's sooner rather than later."

"But you love her?"

As he watched Andy turn the corner at the end of the hall, Sam Swarek let out a sigh.

"Yeah, I do."

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><p><strong>Thanks for reading - any form of feedback is appreciated! :) <strong>


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